reading and writing about why we work

May 2013

05/16/2013

Reading Ken Bain's What the Best College Students Do, I recognized how JK Rowling's pursuit of her dreams protest my belief about how pursuing a passion is more important than pursuing a wealthy investment. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, grew up with parents who came from impoverished backgrounds with no education. Always told by her mother and father
to live a better life than they did, Rowling felt pressure to “study something useful” and pursue a career which would ensure great wealth and security (Bain 221). I realize my mother and father chased their dreams and happened to make a decent living by doing so and because of this, I believe pursuing something I truly love can be equally as beneficial as pursuing something strictly for financial purposes. JK Rowling’s parents failed to stress the importance of working toward her passion rather than simply becoming a doctor in order to earn a high income. Rowling, who decided to pursue her passion for writing, has become one of the wealthiest people in the world. With her dream came financial stability. I find Rowling’s story inspiring as she could have become equally as wealthy working an undesirable career, but decided to follow her dream instead. After reading about JK Rowling’s experience, I plan on focusing on and working toward my dreams. I will work to fulfill the dreams and life I have planned for myself and will not view financial stability as the only important factor.

Original Conversatoin:

Being a long time Harry Potter fan, I was of course attracted to the beginning example given in chapter eight. It reads that JK Rowling, the creator of Harry potter who grew up with parents who came from impoverished backgrounds with no education, grew up being told by her parents that they wanted a better life for her. They told her their dream was for Rowling to “study something ‘useful,’” and something that would keep her out of a life of poverty (Bain 221). The initial reason I was instantly attracted to this example is because I come from a similar background. Although my parents have fended for themselves since a young age and have both managed to live a decent life, they both did not graduate from college nor did they live a very lavish life growing up. They have told me since I was a young girl the same thing Rowling’s parents told her. I can relate to this example, and actually find it very comforting. I also enjoy this example because although Rowling has become one of the wealthiest people in the world, she put her all into something she was truly passionate about; writing. This is extremely inspiring because she could have studied what her parents had suggested she studied in order to live a wealthy life, however instead she followed her passion which fortunately ended up being a huge success for her. She could have made a lot of money following her parent’s suggestions but decided to continue following a dream of hers which was writing. This is something I absolutely plan on doing. Although I value my parents suggestions and opinions very much, which I am sure Rowling did as well, I am going to focus and work to fulfill the dreams and life I have planned for myself.

Revision:

Starting from scratch, I improved this revised post over its original by focusing on concision, adding links, and using new active verbs. I went into durther depth about my views on JK Rowling's experience and related my own personal experience to hers. I tried more clearly explaining how I disagree with her parent's advice about pursuing a career in order to make a lot of money and live a lavish life.

Ken Bain's, the author of What The Best College Students Do, approach on deep learning allows me to identfy my mother Margaret as a deep learner. Successful students are deep learners who reflect on the personal significance of what they are learning, and recognize the importance of “understand[ing] and search[ing] for the meaning that lies behind the text,” rather than simply memorizing key terms and ideas necessary for passing exams (Bain 38). Discovering how the meaning behind text connects with countless other aspects of life is captivating. Understanding there are connections revealed through readings motivates me to become a deep learner. When assigned a task to interview a deep learner, I chose my mother. Gathering her answers throughout the interview, I was able to recognize the involvement she employs when approaching new information. Even when completely uninterested in a topic,
Margaret fully applies herself and learns deeply in order to completely understand the facts she is taking in. I asked her to please discuss one example of when she felt the need to learn strategically, yet felt strongly about learning on a deeper level. She then answered, “As a junior in High School, I was very tempted to exercise the ways of a strategic learner in my Chemistry class with Mrs. Cox. However, I simply could not find it in me to just learn the material necessary to pass the class. I realized I actually did have a strong desire to truly understand Chemistry. I did so, and received a high A in the class. Although we are all strategic learners at times, I generally cannot bring myself to learn on that level. My nature is to deeply learn, understand, and fully comprehend things or subjects such as my eleventh grade Chemistry class.” Even though strategic and surface learning may be easier than deep learning, they are not as beneficial. While I am a deep learner in some subjects, I also am not in others which inspire me to become the learner I now long to be. I agree with Bain when he writes “deep learning changes who people are and how they view the world” (13). I now understand why my mother is the way she is; her desire for learning and comprehending everything on a deep level is incredibly motivating and helps me determine the type of learner I want to be. I will apply my mother and Bain's concept to my own experiences as I am confident my learning will improve significantly.

Original Conversation:

Studying the meaning of a deep learner, I began thinking about who I would consider one. After a few short minutes, I truly considered my entire family deep learners. Conveniently, I chose to interview my mother, an extremely deep learner, as I was going to be with her all weekend long. During the interview, I asked her a few questions in which I thought would really increase my understanding of what exactly made her a deep learner. After gathering her answers, I came to the conclusion that she really involves herself in gaining a true understanding of whatever it is that was placed in front of her. Even when completely uninterested in a topic, she fully applies herself and learns not just strategically, but deeply in order to completely understand the topic. She mentioned a few examples, including one of when she felt the need to be a strategic learner in her junior year Chemistry class with Mrs. Cox, however she simply could not find it in herself to just learn the material necessary to pass the class with a C. My mother knew the type of person she was, a deep learner, and realized she actually did have a strong desire to understand Chemistry completely to the best of her ability. “Although everyone is a strategic learner at times, including myself,” she said, “I generally cannot bring myself to half-ass learn. And you know what, I actually truly enjoy digging deep into a topic, whether extremely boring or incredibly interesting, it is my nature to deeply learn, understand, and fully comprehend things or subjects such as my eleventh grade Chemistry class.” (Maggie Condiff). I admire my mother for this reason, and several others, because I really was a strategic learner for most of my high school career. Until my senior year, all I really did was learn the basics in order to pass. Sure, I passed with A’s, but if someone were to ask me what I remember about my eleventh grade Chemistry class, I would say, “My teacher’s name.” I began to fully apply myself during my senior year of high school, and my two main motivators were my parents, who are both extremely deep learners.

Revision:

Re-writing my conversation 6, I improved this post by focusing on concision, adding links, and using new active verbs. I simply cleaned up my sentences, and made sure they were structured correctly. I tried making my argument about deep learning being beneficial clearer.

ReadingLapham's Quarterly Lines of Work by Lewis H. Lapham, I find Herman Melville’s writings interesting as I am able to relate my experience in my past four year relationship to his article. I came across a specific quote which interested me most; “So strongly and metaphysically did I conceive of my situation then, that while earnestly watching his motions, I seemed distinctly to perceive that my own individuality was now merged in a joint-stock company of two: that my free will had received a mortal wound and that another’s mistake or misfortune might plunge innocent me into unmerited disaster and death” (qtd. Lapham's 49). Explaining how in any relationship a partner may eventually no longer feel like an independent being, Melville's quote resonates deeply with me. Although once individualistic, I simply lost my independence as a result of taking on my exes "mistakes and misfortunes." Protesting Melville’spoint about free will being mortally wounded, this quote relates to how my exes issues instantly became my issues as well, “[plunging] innocent me into unmerited disaster and death." We, the “joint-stock company of two,” then had to deal and cope with each problem together: a strong example of how my individuality was completely diminished. I
am not saying, however, I have any issue with facing life head on with
my partner. I am simply writing about a personal toxic experience I can
easily relate to Meliville's article. Everyday workers face similar situations Melville writes about in Lines of Work in ways such as business partnerships and work-sharing. While they work together to meet deadlines, workers often adopt their business partner's stresses, stuggles, and procrastinations. This supports Herman Melville's idea about "earnestly watching his motions" and turning into one worker rather than two. Although I view my past relationship as a learning experience, I wish I had Melville's writings to refer to each time I felt I was losing my self worth. In response to Herman Melville's article, I will apply what he writes to my future relationships and avoid a mortally wounded free will.

Original Conversation:

Reading through Lines of Work, I came across several quotes I found incredibly interesting. However, one seemed to catch my attention most when reading Herman Melville; “So strongly and metaphysically did I conceive of my situation then, that while earnestly watching his motions, I seemed distinctly to perceive that my own individuality was now merged in a joint-stock company of two: that my free will had received a mortal wound and that another’s mistake or misfortune might plunge innocent me into unmerited disaster and death” (Melville 49). When I first read this quote, I had to go back and read it a few more times in order to gain a greater understanding of what Melville was saying. If judging this quote correctly, I believe it is describing how one no longer feels like an independent individual. Although once individualistic, people may overtime become involved in a “joint-stock company of two,” meaning they become involved with someone to such an extent that they begin losing their individuality and independence, and merge into one (Melville 49). The part of the quote that reads “..another’s mistake or misfortune might plunge innocent me into unmerited disaster and death” is describing how when two people are encountering this “joint-stock company of two,” their problems are shared. They must deal and cope with these problems together. This is a strong example of how their individuality is completely diminished. Another example of what happens when two people become one is their belief systems tend to merge into one as well.

Revision:

I improved this revised post over its original by focusing on concision, adding links, and using new active verbs. I corrected my grammar mistakes and made sure my sentences were clear. I related a personal experience to Melville's article. After re-writing my conversation 4, I now understand Herman Melville's quote on a much deeper level than I originally had.

Ken Bain, the author of What The Best College Students Do, offers a great description of intrinsic motivation; a motivation to engage in activities which enhance or maintain a
person's self-concept. Bain's idea about inner drive makes me wonder how extrinsic motivation could be negatively affecting me. I agree with Bain when he writes, “Conventional wisdom and the prevailing social science of the day…humans will work hardest and perform best…have an extrinsic motivator waiting for them” (43). Even though I perform to the best of my best ability when I am extrinsically motivated, I never truly feel self-fulfilled afterward. I find Bain’s quote compelling as I am able to relate; I purchased cleaning supply at the hardware store and improved the hostess station at work in order to receive employee of the month. I did not do so because I felt a great feeling of personal satisfaction or because this made me feel good about myself, but rather to gain some kind of reward. Working toward employee of the month protests how I am more often faced with the desire to work for external rewards rather than the aspiration to feel self-fulfilled. Because personal satisfaction is so important, successful students and learners should search for internal drive rather than external when accomplishing something. After a meeting I had with JJ, a writing consultant at Mira Costa College, I decided to begin searching for intrinsic motivators while working toward accomplishing goals. Since then, I have felt more self-rewarded than ever before. I believe successful learners benefit more from personal motivation than motivation which results in desirable outcomes and rewards. Studying Bain’s writings about intrinsic motivation, I plan on applying his idea to my everyday life as a future student and learner.

Original Conversation

Reading through the first two chapters of Bain’s What the Best College Students Do, I came across countless intriguing and, in my opinion, truthful quotes/statements relating to my beliefs and personal experiences. However, one in particular most caught my attention. On page forty three, paragraph two: “Conventional wisdom and the prevailing social science of the day…humans will work hardest and perform best…have an extrinsic motivator waiting for them” (Bain). Based on personal experience, I completely agree with this quote. I have performed to my best ability several times because I had an extrinsic motivator, and was rewarded for doing so. However, I never truly felt very self-fulfilled afterward. I then began finding intrinsic motivators to inspire myself and help motivate myself to work my hardest and really began feeling very proud of myself and like I actually accomplished something for the right reasons. Although at times I find intrinsic motivators difficult to follow, I know they are most beneficial. I believe individuals benefit more from personal motivation rather than motivation that comes from being rewarded for good deeds.

Revision:

Re-writing my conversation 5, I made sure my sentences did not sound choppy and flowed smoothly. I focused on concision, adding links, and using new active verbs. I included personal experiences and wrote about my meeting with JJ in the writing center where I discovered my desire to become intrinsically motivated. I went into depth about my views on external and internal drive, and discussed which of the two I find more beneficial.

Over the course of this semester, I have experienced writing in an unfamiliar yet inviting way I have never been introduced to. Discovering several different writing patterns and structures I have always followed, I learned how to improve my writing by focusing on concision, sentence variety, and active verbs. Avoiding expletive constructions is one major skill I feel I have adopted the past few months. Within my blogs live sentences which have grown stronger and much clearer since the beginning of the semester. While I have always doubted my ability to write on a more intellectual level, I now understand I am capable of doing whatever I completely apply myself to. Frequently visiting the writing center has helped mold me into the writer I am today as the consultants introduced a variety of ways I could expand my thoughts and incorporate clear analysis reflecting interesting quotes and ideas. I have learned never to doubt my ability, and to challenge myself to write on levels I never imagined. Expanding my knowledge and skills about writing and exploring interesting readings has improved the way I approach essays and respond to books such as Ken Bain’s What the Best College Students Do. Approaching an early responsive assignment, I initially wrote each conversation response with no professional intent. As I revise each conversation blog post, I now contain the knowledge and desire to improve my conversations by focusing on writing strategies I learned throughout my spring semester. Below are links consisting of grammatically correct, college level blog posts responding to intriguing readings and ideas I was able to easily relate to personal experiences.

My interview gave me an opportunity to appreciate the value of deep learning from another person’s perspective. A deep learner is someone who goes above and beyond in school to learn the deeper meaning of subjects, such as English, and other related subjects. The person who I interviewed was JJ from the Writing Center. What I had to do was to ask her how she is a deep learner and how society effects the way she thinks in her life.When I asked her how she is a deep learner, she said her motivation increases when she spends time thinking about subjects, especially writing, that genuinely interest her. When she gets curious about how a concept from a topic works, she takes time to understand that idea by doing research either online or in the library.When I asked her how society affects her way of thinking, she said that since many of her coworkers are deep learners, they influenced her to think more critically about certain topics that she helps students with for her essays. Based on her answers, I think JJ is a deep learner because she likes to critically think about subjects that interest her including writing. She also likes to curiously look up ideas.

Personally, I agree with JJ because when people spend enough time looking up complex ideas, such as writing strategies, they are learning something new, and they are more aware of those ideas. When people are more aware of ideas, then they will apply them to their lives more often. I agree with JJ's answer to the second question as well because if someone interacts with ihighly motivated and intelligent people from either work or school, then they will eventually become the same way too.

Original Conversation:

The person who I interviewed was JJ from the Writing Center. When I asked her how she is considered to be a deep learner, she said that her motivation increases when she spends time thinking about subjects that genuinely interest her, such as writing. When she gets curious about how an idea works, she takes time to look it up, so that she can have a better understanding of it. When I asked her how society affects her way of thinking, she mentioned that since many of her coworkers are deep learners,she was influenced to think more critically about certain topics she helps students with for her essays. Based on her answers, I think that JJ is a deep learner because she likes to think more critically about certain subjects, and she likes to look up ideas that she is often curious about.

Reflection:

When I rewrote Conversation Six, I felt that I improved greatly on reducing my expletive constructions such as, "it is" and making sure to replace words like "it" and ,"there" with actual nouns. Additonally, I improved on other things like adding a topic sentence, fixing some grammar issues, expanding my thinking, and changing some of my verbs to active verbs. I also added my own personal connection to avoid abruptness at the end of my post.

At the begining of the semester, i felt like my writing resembled that of a Kindergardener writing an essay for the first time, compared to the writtings of all the other students in my class. The other students were using higher vocabulary that i had yet to learn how to use or even begin to understand what the words meant. Since the beginning of my school education, i have always had problems in all of my english classes. In English 100, i have learned how to improve my concision, explexitive construction and active verb usage. At the end of the semester i finally realized that i did not need to write using such high vocabulary, but be able to take their readers to a different place for that moment. Working with the consultants at the writing center throughout the semester they have told me that my writing style involved using humor and detail and using those details to help the readers believe that they are with you for that moment feeling how you felt. Having the ability to rewrite my essays and using the comments from my professor has helped me improve my skills, in hopes to develop my writing even more. In these 4 conversations that i have offered demonstrates how i have grown as a writer through out the semester. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Rewriting my conversation #1, I corrected my many grammar mistakes and fixed my "You's" and vague pronouns. I also expanded my thoughts about the quote that i choose and tried to make sure that my sentences flowed and achieved parallelism.

Rewriting my Conversation #2, I finished my thoughts on some of my sentences. I added a topic sentence and a specific detail of what idleness means to me. I also tried to fix grammatical errors and fixed any run on sentences.

Rewriting conversation #3, I rewrote this entire conversation to better explain how i felt about the quote. i also added a more specific example to interest the reader and fixed any grammatical errors that i came across.

Rewriting my deep learner interview, I corrected my grammar mistakes and changed my vague pronouns. I also added a sentence of how a learner thinks so the reader can understand the concept of my paragraph. I focused on adding specific examples to keep the reader interested.

In the article “War Work” by
Niccolo Machiavelli in Lapham’s Quarterly, it talks about princes at wartime
and how they should act and what areas to have knowledge in. The quote
that caught my eye was “The prince that lacks the knowledge also lacks the
first qualification of a good commander” (Machiavelli 119). In my experience in the Marine Corps, I have come
across some people that were horrendous at being leaders because they lacked the professionalism of an authority figure and the knowledge of the basic necessities of a
leader of Marines. From a junior Marines perspective, a leader needs to have a
good head on their shoulders and have the knowledge to back what they are
saying to be able teach a class full of Marines who are back in garrison or when
they are out in the combat zone. Just like Machiavelli states in his reading, the princes need to know everything about their territory and of their enemies.
If a leader does not have the initiative to learn his surroundings and how to
lead their army into victory, how does he expect anybody to follow him? When I
was a private first class just starting out my career, I had a corporal who
would always pick on and belittle other juinor Marines and me. He would
make us rake our sand pit and pick out all of the rocks out of the sand. While I
was made to do the most absurd activities to occupy my time, I would always ask
myself “ Why are we doing this? This is so stupid.” Not only in the Marine
Corps but having/being a good leader can affect an employee in any type of
workplace.

Original Post:

In the article by Niccolo
Machiavelli, it talks about princes at wartime and how they should act and what
to have knowledge at to be a leader. The quote that caught my eye was “The
prince that lacks the knowledge also lacks the first qualification of a good
commander” (Machiavelli 119). In my
experience in the Marine Corps I have come across some people that were
horrible at being leaders because they lacked the attitude of an authority
figure and the knowledge of the basic necessities of a leader of Marines. From
a junior marines perspective, a leader needs to have a good head on their
shoulders and have the knowledge to back what they are saying if they are
teaching to a class back on base or when they are out in the combat zone. Just
like Machiavelli states in his reading the princes need to know everything
about their territory and of their enemies. If a leader does not have the
initiative to learn his surroundings and how to lead their army into victory,
how does he expect anybody to follow him?

Corrections:

Rewriting conversation #3, i added a more specific example to interest the reader and fix any grammatical errors that i came across.

My experience with idleness of the
mind and body validates Robert Burton’s views on idleness. While
reading Robert Burton’s article,
“The Devils Tools” in Lapham’s Quarterly the quote that stands out the most to me
was…”Idleness of the mind is much worse than this of the body; wit without
employment is a disease, the rust of the soul, a plague, a hell itself” (Burton
26). Currently, I am unemployed and Burtons quote hits home for me because
well, it’s worth having a lot more time to concentrate on schoolwork,
babysit my goddaughter, and to relax at home. I am trying to find a new
job and filing out applications online daily to companies that are hiring. I feel like I do the same thing
everyday besides occasionally hanging out with friends and working out, so I am
starting to get to that stage where I feel like I am on autopilot. I can sometimes be a
real couch potato as I spend the whole day laying on my couch eating
hot chili and lime flavored Takis and watching reruns of “Glee,” even though I have watched it before. Idleness
to me at this point in my life definitely feels like a disease and I hope that
when I do find a new job, it could free me from the plague of being idle.

Original Post:

I found a lot of interesting quotes
in the 5 Lapham’s readings that I have read, but the one that stands out the
most to me was…”Idleness of the mind is much worse than this of the body; wit
without employment is a disease, the rust of the soul, a plague, a hell itself”
(Burton 26). Currently, I am unemployed and Robert Burtons quote hits home for
me because well, it’s worth having a lot more time to concentrate on
schoolwork, helping my best friend out by babysitting my goddaughter, and
having time to relax. I am trying to find a new job and sending out applications
to companies that are hiring, I feel like I do the same thing everyday besides
occasionally hanging out friends and working out, I am starting to get to that
stage where I feel like I am on autopilot. Idleness to me at this point in my
life definitely feels like a disease and I hope that when I do find a new job,
it could free me from the plague of being idle.

Corrections:

Rewriting my Conversation #2, I finished my thoughts on some of my sentences. I added a topic sentence and a specific detail of what idleness means to me. I also tried to fix grammatical errors and fixed any run on sentences.

Before taking English 50 I felt my writing skills were very poor. After completing this course I feel my writing skils have improved drastically. I have never enjoyed writing essays or anything at all, because I was never had the skills. Taking this course has also improved my confidence in writing so now I feel the next English class will not be as much of challenge.